Toy vehicle

ABSTRACT

A toy vehicle having one or more ground contacting elements such as wheels, an indicating drum movable in one direction in response to wheel movement, stops for limiting the movement of the drum and locking the wheels to simulate an empty fuel condition, a simulated fuel pump insertable into an opening in the vehicle for moving the indicating drum in an opposite direction without any movement of the wheels to simulate a fully fueled condition, whereby further movement of the vehicle in the one direction is permitted.

United States Patent Colgrove May 30, 1972 54 TOY VEHICLE 3,115,72412/1963 Clarke ..46/243 LV [72] Inventor: Ronald B. Colgrove, 56679Maple Hill Primary Examiner Louis Mancene 9" wales 14139 AssistantExaminer-J. Q. Lever 22 Filed: Apr. 1, 1971 AlwmeyAllen J Jaffe [21]App]. No.: 130,342 57 ABSTRACT A toy vehicle having one or more groundcontacting elements [52] U.S. Cl ..46/206 such as wheels, an indicatingdrum movable in one direction in [51] ..A63h 17/00 response to wheelmovement, stops for limiting the movement [58] Field of Search ..46/201,202, 204, 206, 208, of the m and l ing h heels o simulate an empty fuel4 2 1 243 condition, a simulated fuel pump insertable into an opening inthe vehicle for moving the indicating drum in an opposite [56]References Cited direction without any movement of the wheels tosimulate a fully fueled condition, whereby further movement of the vehi-UNITED STATES PATENTS cle in the one direction is permitted.

2,832,] 77 4/1958 Mueller ..46/202 14 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PatentedMay 30, 1972 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 RONALD B. COLGROVE INVENTOR ATTORNEY E a1015 20 253035 F GALLONS TOY VEHICLE The present invention relates totoys and, more particularly, to toy vehicles having one or more groundcontacting elements for mobility, such as wheels.

Many types of toy vehicles are known and whether they are of the push orpull type or of the self propelled type, heretofore, none of thesemechanical wheeled toys have had as a feature thereof the ability to runout of gas"; requiring the child to perform a refueling operation beforethe toy can have further movement.

The toy vehicle according to the present invention incorporates featureswhich permit the simulation of a utilization of fuel or other typicalprime mover power sources such as electric power. Additionally, beforethe vehicle can be easily moved again a simulated refueling operationmust be performed.

In addition to the obvious enjoyment for the child, the toy of thepresent invention will instill in him a sense of responsibility since hemust refuel when the gauge indicates a low fuel condition or riskrunning out of gas at a location remote from a refueling station. Ofcourse, suitable refueling trucks can come to the childs rescue.

Basically, the vehicular toy according to the present invention providesa toy vehicle supported for movement on ground contacting elements suchas one or more wheels, a movable indicator gauge mounted on the vehicle,means for transmitting movement of the wheels into movement of thegauge, and stop means for substantially locking the wheels againstfurther movement in response to a predetermined movement of the gauge.

The invention also provides means for disabling the stop means andresetting the gauge whereby the wheel or wheels can be further moved,such means would preferably be removably attached to the vehicle from atoy gas pump or from a toy emergency refueling" vehicle or the like.

Although the foregoing description at times will refer to a simulatedfuel indicator gauge and a refueling element or tool, this is by way ofexample and not limitation. The simulation of any source of power iscontemplated. Thus, the gauge can be a simulated battery indicator andthe tool can be a recharging" tool, if an electric driven vehicle isbeing simulated.

Additionally, any size of vehicle is contemplated from miniature to fullsize and it is immaterial to the present invention whether the vehicleis self propelled or adapted to be pushed or pulled.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a fuller understanding of thepresent invention reference should be had to the following detaileddescription of the same taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is an exploded pictorial view of the apparatus of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial representation of the drive mechanism of thepresent invention with parts shown in broken away section;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 88 of FIG. 3;and

FIG. 9 is a pictorial view of a typical refueling pump with therefueling tool stored therein.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawingsand, more particularly to FIG. 1, the apparatus of the present inventionis depcited as embodied in a toy vehicle 10, shown for example as agravel carrier having a hopper 12 for gravel or the like. It is to beunderstood that any type of vehicle can be employed. To this end, theoperating mechanism is depicted as removable assembly generallyindicated by the number 14, which is adapted to be suitably fitted tothe body or frame 16 of the vehicle as at slots 18.

The operating mechanism is shown as comprising an enclosure or housing20 having side walls 22 and 24. An axle 26 passes through suitableopenings and is adapted to have mounted thereon suitable groundcontacting elements such as wheels 28 (only one of which isillustrated).

A cylindrical indicating drum 30 is mounted on the housing 20 forrotation. Drum 30 has a helically extending portion 32 on its peripherythat is visually distinguishable from the remaining portions of theperiphery as by color, for example. Portion 32 functions as a movablefuel" indicating gauge that cooperates with suitable indicia on thevehicle body, as will become apparent hereinbelow.

Drum 30 is adapted to be rotated in the direction of vehicle movement inresponse to rotation of wheels 28. Suitable means are provided totransmit wheel motion to corresponding drum movement. Such means areillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 as comprising a gear 34 fixedly mounted onaxle 26 cooperating with a gear 36 mounted for rotation in side wall 22.A reduction gear 38 is fixedly attached to gear 36 and cooperates with amuch larger gear 40 mounted on a shaft 42 having one end supported inside wall 22. The other end of shaft 42 is supported for rotation andpasses through a bore 44 in drum 30. Rotary movement of gear 40 in thedirection of vehicle motion is transmitted to movement of drum 30 bymeans of a suitable transmission or clutching mechanism 46, which maytypically comprise a 3-M Fibre-Tran overrunning clutch mechanism, thedriver section 48 of which may be adhesively secured to gear 40 and thedriven section 50 of which may be adhesively secured to a side face ofdrum 30. A spring 52 is located between side wall 22 and gear 40 to urgethe sections 48 and 50 into inimate contact. The clutch 46 willpositively drive the drum 30 counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 2 inresponse to movement of wheels 28 in the direction of arrow A and willslip in the opposite direction. Although this type of clutch isadvantageous in that it can be overridden without damage, making itsuitable for child abuse, other types of clutches or ratchet mechanismsmay be utilized, such as a friction clutch, for example.

A projection 54 on drum 30 cooperates with a limit stop projection 56 onthe inner surface of wall 24 to limit the degree of travel of the drumto thereby substantially lock the wheels from further movement, as willbe described in greater detail hereinbelow. When stop 54 engages andabuts against stop 56, the wheels 28 are substantially locked and nofurther easy movement is permitted. This corresponds to the simulatedout of fuel condition of the vehicle, which is indicated by a minimumportion of helix 32 being exposed through an observation opening in theform of an indicator window 58 in the top surface of vehicle housing 16,as illustrated in FIG. 6.

A gas cap 60 is pivotally mounted on the top surface of housing 16 andis fixed to a square top section 61 of a shaft 62 passing throughhousing 16, to which is fixedly attached a square sectioned actuatingnut 64. Nut 64 is adapted to cooperate with an end of a lever 66 whichis pivotally mounted on fulcrum 68 which is mounted to wall 24 of unit14. The other end 70 of lever 66 is adapted to contact shaft 42 and movethe same against the bias of spring 52 to declutch unit 46, as willbecome apparent hereinbelow. A weak spring 72 is provided to urge lever66 into contact with actuating nut 64.

Drum 30 is adapted to be rotated back to the position whereat thehelical portion 32 thereof occupies substantially the total projectedarea of window 58. This is the simulated full tank or fully fueledcondition. To this end, suitable reset means are provided in the form ofa set of gears and a reset actuator tool or simulated fuel pump. Drum 30has a projecting portion 74 extending through wall 24 to which isfixedly keyed a gear 76 which cooperates with a mating gear 78 fixed toa shaft 80 attached to wall 24. Gear 80 mates with a gear 82 which issimilarly supported by wall 24. Vehicle housing 16 has an opening 84which is normally closed by cap 60, through which opening a simulatedfuel pump nozzle or reset tool or actuator 86 is adapted to be insertedas illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4. Actuator 86 has on its operative end aplurality of gear teeth 88 in the form of a rack which mates with gear82. When not in use actuator is stored in a suitable storage facillitysuch as a gas pump" housing 90 or the like, as illustrated in FIG. 9.

OPERATION In the operation of the foregoing described apparatus, as thewheels 28 are moved in the forward direction (arrow A in FIG. 2) drum 30is caused to rotate in the same direction through gears 34, 36, 38, 40and clutch 46. As drum 30 rotates, less and less of the colored portion32 thereof is exposed through window 58 (FIG. 6) which indicates to thechild in a simulated fashion that more and more fuel is being utilized,as the edge of surface 32 progressively approaches the empty or Eposition. At this position stop 54 engages stop 56 and the wheels 28 aresubstantially locked against further forward movement. This position ofthe drum corresponds to the empty or out of fuel condition of thevehicle whereat the edge of colored portion 32 substantially lines upwith the empty or E indicia adjacent window 58.

The child must now refuel the vehicle before further movement ispermitted. To do this, the gas cap 60 is rotated from the closedposition of FIG. 6 to the open position of FIG. 7. Movement of cap 60causes movement of nut 64 to the dashed position shown in FIG. 8 wherebylever 66 is moved to the dashed position which, in turn, causes the end70 thereof (FIG. 3) to slide gear shaft 42 and gear 40 away from drum 30against the action of spring 52 to separate or declutch sections 48 and50 of clutching mechanism 46. The cap 60 will remain in this positionuntil it is moved back to the closed position because the corner edge ofnut 64 has passed dead center. Opening 84 has been uncovered by themovement of the cap to the open position and the refueling tool 86 isinserted therethrough. The teeth 88 of tool 86 engage gear 82 and rotatethe same in the direction of arrow B (FIG. 4) which, in turn, causesrotation of gear 78 in the direction of arrow C which causes rotationgear 76 in the direction of arrow D. Since gear 76 is keyed to shaft 74of drum 30 and since the clutch mechanism is temporarily inoperative,rotation of gear 76 causes rotation of drum 30 in a clockwise directionas viewed in FIG. 2 whereby stop 54 is moved away from stop 56. As drum30 is rotated by refueling tool 86, the helical portion 32 thereofprogressively occupies more and more of the area under the window 58until finally it occupies the complete projected area thereof whichindicates to the child operator that the vehicle has been completelyrefueled and is ready for further movement. The tool 86 is rotated 90 todisengage its teeth 88 from the teeth of gear 82 and is removed fromopening 84. The cap 60 is rotated to the closed position allowing theelements 48 and 50 of the clutch to engage. The vehicle is now ready forfurther forward movement until the stops 54 and 56 again engage tosimulate the out of fuel condition.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has beendisclosed and described, changes will occur to those skilled in the artas, for example, instead of incorporating a separate actuator fordeclutching and resetting the drum, a single actuator could be provided.It is therefore intended that the present invention is to be limitedonly by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for simulating the utilization of fuel or the like in avehicular toy, comprising;

a. a toy vehicle supported for movement on one or more ground contactingelements,

b. movable indicator means mounted on said vehicle,

c. means responsive to movement of said ground contacting elements forcausing movement of said indicator means, and

d. stop means engageable for substantially locking said groundcontacting elements against further movement in response to apredetermined movement of said indicator means.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising;

e. means for causing opposite movement of said indicator means anddisengaging said stop means whereby further movement of said groundcontacting elements is permitted.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein;

f. said means for causing opposite movement of said indicator meanscomprises an element removably associated with said vehicle.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein;

g. said means responsive to movement of said ground contacting elementscomprises a clutching mechanism, and there is further provided;

h. means for separating the operative elements of said clutchingmechanism whereby opposite movement of said indicator means is permittedwithout corresponding movement of said ground contacting elements.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein;

. said indicator means comprises a rotatable drum having a helicallyextending surface portion thereof distinquisha ble from the remainingsurface portions thereof.

. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising;

. an observation opening on said vehicle adjacent said drum, and whereink. said helically extending distinguishable surface portion of said drumoccupies substantially the total projected area of said observationopening when said stop means is fully disengaged to simulate a fullyfueled condition of said vehicle, and

. said distinquishable surface surface portion occupies a minimum of thetotal projected area of said observation opening when said stop means isengaged to simulate an empty fuel condition of said vehicle, thetransition of said distinquishable surface portion from said position oftotal occupation to said position of minimum occupation occurs graduallyto simulate the progressive utilization of fuel.

. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein;

said movable indicator means has a portion thereof cooperable withstationary means on said vehicle and movable progressively between firstand second extreme positions whereat fueled and unfueled conditions ofsaid vehicle are simulated, respectively.

. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising;

actuator means for disengaging said stop means and moving said movableindicator means to said first position.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein;

g. said actuator means is removably associated with said vehicle.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein;

h. said means responsive to said ground contacting elements comprises aclutching mechanism having a pair of engaging clutch elements, and thereis further provided;

i. means for disengaging said clutch elements whereby movement of saidindicator means to said first position is permitted withoutcorresponding movement of said ground contacting elements.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein;

j. said movable indicator means comprises a drum rotatably mounted insaid vehicle.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1 1 wherein;

k. one of said engaging clutch elements is fixed to said drum, and

1. said means for disengaging said clutch elements comprises a shaftpassing through an axial opening in said drum and a lever pivotallymounted to said vehicle having one end adjacent said shaft for causingreciprocable movement tor means and normally covered by said cap.thereof. 14. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein; 13. Theapparatus according to claim 12, further comprisg. said actuator meanscomprises a member having portions i on an operative end thereofengageable with mating porm. a cap externally of said vehicle, 5 tionsof power transmitting elements, one of which is fixed to said drum forrotating the same from said second to said first extreme position.

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n. a shaft attached to said cap adapted to engage and move the other endof said lever, 0. an opening on said vehicle adapted to receive saidactua-

1. Apparatus for simulating the utilization of fuel or the like in avehicular toy, comprising; a. a toy vehicle supported for movement onone or more ground contacting elements, b. movable indicator meansmounted on said vehicle, c. means responsive to movement of said groundcontacting elements for causing movement of said indicator means, and d.stop means engageable for substantially locking said ground contactingelements against further movement in response to a predeterminedmovement of said indicator means.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1,further comprising; e. means for causing opposite movement of saidindicator means and disengaging said stop means whereby further movementof said ground contacting elements is permitted.
 3. The apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein; f. said means for causing oppositemovement of said indicator means comprises an element removablyassociated with said vehicle.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 3,wherein; g. said means responsive to movement of said ground contactingelements comprises a clutching mechanism, and there is further provided;h. means for separating the operative elements of said clutchingmechanism whereby opposite movement of said indicator means is permittedwithout corresponding movement of said ground contacting elements. 5.The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein; i. said indicator meanscomprises a rotatable drum having a helically extending surface portionthereof distinquishable from the remaining surface portions thereof. 6.The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising; j. anobservation opening on said vehicle adjacent said drum, and wherein k.said helically extending distinguishable surface portion of said drumoccupies substantially the total projected area of said observationopening when said stop means is fully disengaged to simulate a fullyfueled condition of said vehicle, and l. said distinquishable surfacesurface portion occupies a minimum of the total projected area of saidobservation opening when said stop means is engaged to simulate an emptyfuel condition of said vehicle, the transition of said distinquishablesurface portion from said position of total occupation to said positionof minimum occupation occurs gradually to simulate the progressiveutilization of fuel.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein; e.said movable indicator means has a portion thereof cooperable withstationary means on said vehicle and movable progressively between firstand second extreme positions whereat fueled and unfueled conditions ofsaid vehicle are simulated, respectively.
 8. The apparatus according toclaim 7, further comprising; f. actuator means for disengaging said stopmeans and moving said movable indicator means to said first position. 9.The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein; g. said actuator means isremovably associated with said vehicle.
 10. The apparatus according toclaim 9, wherein; h. said means responsive to said ground contactingelements comprises a clutching mechaniSm having a pair of engagingclutch elements, and there is further provided; i. means for disengagingsaid clutch elements whereby movement of said indicator means to saidfirst position is permitted without corresponding movement of saidground contacting elements.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 10,wherein; j. said movable indicator means comprises a drum rotatablymounted in said vehicle.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 11,wherein; k. one of said engaging clutch elements is fixed to said drum,and l. said means for disengaging said clutch elements comprises a shaftpassing through an axial opening in said drum and a lever pivotallymounted to said vehicle having one end adjacent said shaft for causingreciprocable movement thereof.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 12,further comprising; m. a cap externally of said vehicle, n. a shaftattached to said cap adapted to engage and move the other end of saidlever, o. an opening on said vehicle adapted to receive said actuatormeans and normally covered by said cap.
 14. The apparatus according toclaim 8, wherein; g. said actuator means comprises a member havingportions on an operative end thereof engageable with mating portions ofpower transmitting elements, one of which is fixed to said drum forrotating the same from said second to said first extreme position.